1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the smoothing and shrinking of fabrics and more particularly to the smoothing and shrinking of textile hose through the use of moisture and calendering.
2. Description of Related Art
It is already well known to smooth and shrink tubular mesh fabrics or hose by stretching the fabric along its width, moistening the stretched fabric with steam and pressing the fabric between a pair of rollers. This method has the significant disadvantage of reducing the shrink of the fabric due to the pressing between the rollers, however.
In another familiar method, the fabric is moistened and then conducted around a smoothing and compacting roller by means of a conveyor belt. This method has the disadvantage that the surface of the belt remains practically undeformed throughout the treatment of the fabric. Many hose materials cannot be shrunk sufficiently in this manner since the material remains practically immovable upon the conveyor belt surface.